Finding Wonderland
by shewhowearsglasses
Summary: AU Alice/Hatter "Cause you're my Alice, and I'm your Hatter. And we're going to live happily ever after in Wonderland." And the rain came pouring down.


**I've seen Alice a total of 6 times in the past year. Well, actually twice if you're talking 2010. I saw it 4 times last December. Once by my lonesome and that was where it began... Next, two days later, I made my mommy watch it. She liked it. Then, the next Wednesday, I forced my best friend, Haley, to watch it. SHE LOVED IT. Finally, on New Years, I made my friend, Molly, watch it. She loved it too. NEXT IS YOU. Go and find it via Youtube or something and watch it, I'll bet you don't regret it. If you do, tell me, and I'll talk you out of your regret.**

**So, I FINALLY decided to make a story out of it. And Voila!**

* * *

_Her heart fluttered with the feeling of butterfly wings in her stomach. She giggled and fidgeted, trying to find her place among all of this chaos._

_He seemed calm and at peace with the situation, smiling and chatting with the familiar faces._

_She just couldn't get over the feeling of his hand around hers; his thumb roughly caressing her own. She couldn't look away from the grin upon his soft lips. She couldn't hide the smile in her own blue eyes._

**Finding Wonderland**

* * *

It was Autumn.

The leaves were falling; red, gold, yellow.

A drought had taken over the city of Wonderland. Citizens moved about, bemoaning the loss of the sky-liquid.

Among the jumble of people, a lost female skidded to a stop.

"Tea Shop." She read lazily, while her fingers played with the ends of her hair. The Shop in front of her was fall-colored. Calm oranges and browns decorated the outside of the small building.

Noise filled her ears as the door opened, many a person was hanging around the good-smelling tea shop. A man with a short white beard and curling moustache sat at the window seat, sipping from his cup. A short, fat woman with fiery red hair was giving her companion a stern look. There was a handsome, blond man flirting with a fellow young woman: their matching red lipstick gave away the stolen kisses.

When the woman's eyes stopped circling the shop, her view was centered upon a rugged brunette with a bored look upon his face.

A hat sat atop his wild hair and his chocolate eyes stared out the window at the bustling city.

His arms rested unceremoniously upon the glass counter holding too many pastries to count. His hand was holding his head as his eyes searched the crowd. They paused when they stopped upon her, and his hand let go of his head, his eyes lighting with interest.

"Hello, Miss. May I help you?" He asked with a soft smirk on his lips.

Her stutter was on the brink of entering her voice when she spoke, "I.. yeah. Hold on. Give me a second."

His smirk widened and he glanced backwards at the large chalkboard covered with different teas. "Need any help with your choice?"

"No... I just wanted more time to ogle you in silence." Her reply was either sarcastic or flirty, depending on the way you took her smile.

His smirk had become a smile before he could stop it, "take all the time in the world, Miss."

She leaned in over the counter and smiled lazily, "I'll take the special."

"Ah. Ecstasy. Good choice, Miss..." His voice trailed off as his eyes ran over her form.

"Alice." Came her simple reply, and when she smiled hesitantly, it was obvious that she wouldn't give him anymore.

He leaned back and his hand went up to tip his hat forward. He grinned at her before turning to pour the oddly-named tea. "The name's Hatter, Miss Alice. I own this shop."

"Of course you do," Alice whispered with an amused tone. "You're the mad hatter and you own the Tea Shop. And of course, I, Alice, am your customer."

"I've been waiting for you for years, Alice."

She smiled genuinely and leaned upon the counter to admire its hidden treasures. There were countless delicious baked-goods hidden behind the glass barrier, and Alice wished upon a star for the control required to ignore them. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Ah." When she glanced up, Hatter was situated directly in front of her. His lips were barely a centimeter away from her own and his eyes were smouldering. The newly full cup of tea was cupped in his open palm, held before her for the taking and his breath smelled of peppermint.

Her wallet was open as soon as she could lean back to search for it. "How much?"

"Not a cent for my soul-mate."

The words threw her off-guard, she flicked her eyes towards his in confusion.

"I..." She paused and looked him over, seeing the flirtatious smile in his eyes and the elegant raise of his eyebrows. "No. That's not..."

He held his hand out and covered her wallet, pushing it away from the counter. "Alice, Alice." He hummed her name making it sound so... sexy on his smirking lips. "Don't be mad; take the offer and drink your ecstasy."

Alice paused in her motions, before dropping her wallet into her purse and taking the tea from Hatter. "Thank you."

"No, don't thank me." Hatter said as she turned to leave, "thank fate, for finally bringing you home, Alice."

* * *

The bell chime rang and Hatter's head tilted to regard the new customer. A man with twin ponytails trailing his back stepped into the shop and the brunette almost groaned. The usual customer could come or go, he wanted that Alice girl to come back.

When the shop was finally filled and the sun had rose high in the sky, Hatter motioned to Carpenter to take his place at the counter.

He stalked out back and sat against the wooden fence. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lifted it to his lips, taking a long drag as soon as it was lit.

He raised his head to the sky and gazed at the brilliant sun, praying for it to disappear. He wanted wet, cold rain. He wanted to feel the cool liquid on his face and feel calm again. He was so stressed and jumpy in the humid fall air.

A ding announced the arrival of new customers. Hatter poked the door open to check the people for the pretty brunette he'd met the day before.

No, the only new additions to the crowd were the queen of hearts, as Carpenter liked to call her, and her lame excuse for a king. The blond couple who always met for a date at six sharp arrived moments after them.

When the door opened and closed an hour later, Hatter finally picked himself off the ground and relieved Carpenter. He frowned when the clock neared nine and the tables emptied.

Alice wasn't coming, he decided. She was probably just another tourist in town for the day.

When the door rang for the nth time that evening, Hatter didn't even glance at the person. He only tilted his head to show that while his eyes were closed, he was fully awake.

"Time just got carried away from me today," the female told him with a smile.

Hatter's hand fell away from him, and his head slammed into the counter. The girl gasped and tried to choke down her giggles, he grinned slowly. "Alice!"

"Hatter!" She smiled dryly and asked him for the special. Again.

"Did you hang out with the white rabbit?" Hatter finally asked when she took the tea -today, it was relief- from his outstretched hands.

She handed him a five, but he pushed it away with a grin. She frowned but put the bill back all the same, "Excuse me?"

Hatter shifted to stare into her gorgeous blue eyes, "you said time got carried away from you. Did you hang out with the white rabbit? As in Alice and Wonderland? I'm late. I'm late!" He tried to play off the lame joke with a grin, but couldn't hide the idiocy he felt.

She laughed quietly and Hatter smiled at the sound. He felt the need to hear that laugh everyday. To be the one to make her laugh everyday.

"No. I was too busy moving to do much of anything."

"Moving, you say?" Hatter asked, leaning towards her.

"Oh. I've recently moved into the apartment two blocks down." She grinned and nudged her head in the supposed direction, "I have so many boxes! I'll be working for weeks to unload!"

Hatter smiled and continued to ask her questions. Even when the clock rang nine and the neighboring shops began locking their doors, Hatter talked to Alice kindly and only allowed her to leave at the first yawn.

* * *

For weeks, Alice stopped in daily, sipping the special tea with Hatter as they laughed at silly jokes. Carpenter continually commented on how "whipped," Hatter was, but Hatter pushed the comments aside with little more than a frown.

Alice's eyes haunted his dreams and her laughter was forever the song on his mind.

He thought of things to say all morning, so when she arrived, there would never be an awkward lull in conversation.

The weeks turned to months and pretty soon it was Spring.

April brought no showers, it turned out, but it did bring flowers. After all, Alice always came to chat with her beautiful lily scent and her orchid-blue eyes.

Then, one day, she didn't come.

Hatter couldn't push the absence off as a sick-day, she came in everyday: coughing or sneezing or rubbing at her eyes. She probably had other things to do and had no time, or maybe something had happened and a friend was ill and she needed to take care of them. Alice was a saint, Hatter had learned.

Whatever the problem, Hatter allowed it to fog his mind for only moments before concentrating on serving his next customer.

But the absence was a recurrence. The day turned into two and two into three, and before he knew it: Alice had not visited in a week. Hatter's attitude dissolved into a soft anger and Carpenter took notice. As did the customers, who began choosing to wait until Carpenter's break ended to order.

The week became two and soon enough, the days added up to a month. Hatter had survived seven dreary rain-less months with the quiet beauty and he needed her as much as his lungs needed air.

The dinging of the door no longer drove his eyes to the sound; it only made him want to hit his head against the wall. For the first few weeks he was paranoid, brown eyes rarely leaving the crowded streets and loud doorway to work.

When Summer began and Alice had showed no signs of arrival, Hatter began to give up. He allowed the flirtatious glint to return to his smile when speaking with customers; he started joking with Carpenter again and mocking the "Queen of Hearts" every-time she arrived. And before the start of August, Hatter had reverted almost completely back to his old self.

Hatter was cleaning the counter, he whistled under his breath to the radio, spinning a bit with his dish-rag. Carpenter had deserted him for the day and the customers had stopped pouring in little more than an hour ago. The clock had struck nine only twenty minutes previous and Hatter had yet to close the door.

It was the kind of day that made Hatter miss the rain.

He slid towards the window, peering into the dark streets with a calculating gaze. He glanced up and was surprised to see dark clouds covering the indigo sky. He blinked and nodded in acceptance at the coming weather.

A clearing of the throat caused his eyes to roll, "I'm sorry," he told the figure in the doorway. "But, we're closed, you'll have to come back-" When his body stopped moving and his eyes were regarding the female, he laughed.

"Of all the silly nonsense, this is the stupidest tea party I've ever been to in all my life." Her words came out as a dazzling smile lit up her face. He continued to gawk at the female he hadn't seen in months.

When it became clear that he could not stand around all day, he blinked and stumbled behind the counter. "Would you like a little more tea?" He asked hurriedly, holding up the teapot to her view.

She laughed quietly and padded her way to the counter, shaking her head softly, "Well, I haven't had any yet, so I can't very well take more."

"Ah, you mean you can't very well take less!" Shouted the voice from the back room, causing Hatter to realize Carpenter had not deserted him, after all.

"Yes." He replied, shifting to droop his arms across the counter and stare at her. "You can always take more than nothing."

She laughed loudly, causing memories to stir inside of Hatter he had long forgotten. Her laughter was music to his ears. "Can I get you anything, Alice?" He asked, smiling at her, hoping she would stay forever.

"Just the special, as usual," her eyes turned soft at his look and she glanced away. "Listen, Hatter-"

"No need to explain anything to me, Alice." He told her, fidgeting as he moved to grab the Joy from the shelf.

"But, I do!" She tried, standing straighter in her place, "Hatter, I'm so sorry I haven't been here all these months! I was away-" She shifted and cleared her throat, biting her lip with heavy guilt, "I'm so sorry that I never told you; but, I moved here with my boyfriend, Jack. I-"

"Jack... Heart...?" She nodded quickly, and he frowned, "he's been-"

"I know. Cheating, I know." She continued onward, "we broke up almost immediately, but I- I needed to get away. This small town thing was driving me crazy! So, I did. I took the next plane out and stayed with my mother in the city. But I... I missed Wonderland. I missed the people and the places and... and you, Hatter. I missed you."

He blinked softly, "I-"

"No. Let me finish. I know this was- is- nothing, but I just... I like you. I like the talking and the tea and... well, just this. I like this." She curled her hands together and looked at Hatter from under her eyelashes, "I missed you. And this. And... I don't know if you feel the same way- or if you just want to be friends- because you're kind of a flirt. And I could be just-"

"You're mad." Hatter told her with a smirk upon his pink lips.

"You should talk!" She shouted, almost laughing, but somehow she managed to maintain her glow of anxiety. "You're as mad as your stupid name! You-"

"Stop. Wait." Hatter held a finger up and grinned lopsidedly, "Of course I like you. You're my Alice, and I'm your Hatter. And we're going to live happily ever after in Wonderland. Now, would you shut up and let me kiss you?"

She gasped softly but allowed him to rake his fingers through her hair and tug her closer to him. He moved closer to the glass counter and leaned over it, pausing when her eyes drooped closed and his forehead rested against hers. She blinked an eye open and he only grinned stupidly and closed the distance.

And the rain came pouring down.


End file.
